Mobile communication terminals such as mobile phones, personal digital Assistants (PDAs) and the like are very popular and useful. FIG. 1 illustrates a mobile communication environment where various channels are used to establish communication between a mobile terminal and a base station. The etiquette related to using mobile terminals is now becoming important. For example, using a mobile communication terminal in certain zones (e.g., hospitals, inside of airplanes, concert halls, etc.) is considered improper.
Patent Publication No. 1999-0084203, 2001-0075024 presents a method and apparatus for forcibly cutting off transmission/reception waves of a mobile communication terminal in a particular area. Patent Publication No. 2000-0072355 is related to preventing noise caused by ring-tones, and describes an apparatus for automatically converting a sound of the mobile communication terminal into a vibration mode or a visual alert mode.
The above implementations require an additional apparatus or software to be separately installed within the repeater Accordingly, in zones (e.g., airports, airplanes, hospitals, and the like) in which such additional apparatuses are difficult to install, a user of the mobile communication terminal has to turn his terminal off by himself. When the user gets out of the zones where the using of the mobile communication terminal is not permitted, the user has to remember to turn the mobile communication terminal back on.
If the user forgets to turn his mobile communication terminal back on, the call reception will not be reinstated automatically. Furthermore, when the user turns off his mobile communication terminal, other functions of his mobile communication terminal such as camera, games, etc. will be also inaccessible. Method and systems are needed to overcome the above shortcomings.